Club Blooming
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| Full name | Club Social, Cultural y Deportivo Blooming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | La Academia, Los Pascaneros del Casco Viejo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | May 1, 1946 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera, Santa Cruz, Bolivia (Capacity 38,000) |
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| Chairman |  Carlos Bendeck |
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| Manager |  Gustavo Quinteros |
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| League | Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clausura 2007 | 3rd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Club Social, Cultural y Deportivo Blooming is a Bolivian football club from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, founded on May 1, 1946. Their team colours are sky blue, blue and white, and they play at the Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera (38,000 seats). Its main rival is Oriente Petrolero, also from Santa Cruz. When they face each other in the "Clásico Cruceño" it is considered one of the most important matches in Bolivian football.
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[edit] History
On May 1, 1946 a group of young men led by Humberto Vaca Pereyra Montaño, agreed to establish a new football club after the rupture of a previous club called "Blue Sky". In their quest for a name they were inspired by Santa Cruz's flourishing youth; therefore, they decided to name the team officially as "Club Blooming". In the years following its foundation, Blooming became a very successful club in the amateur level, winning several tournaments held in the region. In 1952, the board of directors decided that it was time to enhance the status of the club; that year Blooming made the transition from amateur to professional football after defeating two other teams in a short tournament. From that moment, the team became a member of the Asociación Cruceña de Fútbol, a regional association that was the highest football entity in the Santa Cruz department. In 1977 the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano was founded with sixteen traditional clubs from across the country, among them Blooming. At that time, the club appointed a new chairman, Roberto “Tito” Paz, a well known and respected businessman from Santa Cruz who would transform the team into a true powerhouse in the following years.
1980’s
After playing in first division for a few seasons, Blooming managed to solidify a team that became one of the best in Bolivian football during the early 80’s. The manager at that time was Raúl Pino, he had talented players such as Juan Carlos Sánchez, Milton Melgar and Silvio Rojas among others. They all became great contributors in helping the club make history by finishing second in 1982 and 1983, and winning its first national championship in 1984. The next year Blooming would advanced to the semi-finals stage in Copa Libertadores, but the dream of winning the most prestigious trophy in the continent vanished after finishing third in a group series against Argentine clubs Independiente and Argentinos Juniors. That would be Blooming’s best participation in a Conmebol tournament to date. The rest of the decade was a period characterized by a combination of poor and regular campaigns.
1990’s
Entering the 1990’s, Blooming regained that winning spirit that got lost towards the end of the 80’s. A new generation of players including Jaime Moreno, Juan Manuel Peña, and Berthy Suárez put the club back in the first places of Bolivian football. In both seasons, 1990 and 1991, the team came close from winning the national championship by reaching semi-finals under manager Ramiro Blacutt; nonetheless, the academia cruceña lost to Bolívar and San José respectively. In 1993 the club came knocking the door once again, but finished the season in third place behind The Strongest and Bolívar. 1994 was a poor year for Blooming, as the institution began experiencing difficult times financially. The situation affected the players deeply as they went on strikes on many occasions. This problem was also reflect on the field, as the team didn’t qualify to any of the two championship playoffs held that year, and compromised its permanence in first division football due to a cumulative point average system. Entering 1995 the financial crisis exacerbated, and the team had no choice but to turn to its youth sector as last resort to face the tournament. Despite the tireless effort showed by these youngsters, the team finished second-bottom of the league having to play a relegation series with the Copa Simon Bolivar’s runners-up. On November of that year in La Paz, Blooming lost to Chaco Petrolero 6-5 on penalty kicks, after a 1-1 score on regulation time. The team was relegated for the first time since the league was founded in 1977.
The following year Blooming celebrated its 50th year anniversary playing in second division; however, a fresh board of directors with Juan Callaú in command, promised the supporters that the team would return to first division in 1997. The fisrt step was to find a coach with good background, and willing to take the team back where it belonged at any cost. That's how they determined to bring onboard Carlos Aragones as the manager, then the club was strengthened with great acquisitions like young talented midfielder Limberg Gutierrez, experienced striker Víctor Hugo Antelo, and other important players, which got on well with rest of the squad; forming a solid and consistent team that won the promotion that same year. The basis of that group along with the arrival of other key figures such as Bolivian internationals Rubén Tufiño and José Carlos Fernández consolidated Blooming as an explosive and nearly unstoppable team that went on to win the national championship in 1998 and 1999, the first time a team from Santa Cruz wins it in consecutive seasons.
2000 to present
After six years with no achievements, Blooming was able to regained the confidence and respect of its fans when in 2005 with a renovated team under Gustavo Quinteros as the manager, the celestes won the “Torneo Clausura” categorically by defeating The Strongest in La Paz by a score of 3-2, and consequently finishing first in the championship playoffs with five points ahead of Bolívar. Players such as Joselito Vaca and Gualberto Mojica were fundamental on this journey to the title. The following year, the victorious patch continued for Blooming as the team obtained the Copa Aerosur 2006, a pre-season tournament organized every year by this air company that rewards the winner with cash prices, including free transportation provided during the entire season for the team on every away game. In 2008 Blooming won this title for the second time in its history.
[edit] Achievements
[edit] National Honours
- First Division:
- Champions: 4 (1984, 1998, 1999 and 2005-A)
- Runners-Up: 2 (1982 and 1983)
- Copa Aerosur:
- Champions: 2 (2006 and 2008)
- Second Division:
- Champions: 1 (1996)
[edit] Performance in CONMEBOL competitions
- Copa Libertadores: 6 appearances
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- Best: Semi-Final in 1985
- Copa Merconorte: 1 appearance
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- 2001 - Group Stage
[edit] Current squad
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Apertura 2008 Starting Lineup
| Blooming's 2008 Lineup |
[edit] Notable former players
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*Naturalized Bolivians
- see also Cat:Club Blooming players
[edit] Notable coaches
Raúl Pino (†)- Carlos Aragonés
- Gustavo Quinteros
[edit] External Links
- (Spanish) Official site
- (Spanish) Los Chiflados WEB
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